Using Crowdfunding to Raise Money

Question: Our high-school gymnastics team wants to participate in a tri-state meet. The school will only pay our entry fee. We need money for food and a place to stay. The problem is we don't have time to sell stuff, as we practice so late every day. Do you have any good fundraiser ideas for high-school kids? -- Need to Make Money

Answer: To raise money, the gymnastics group is simply going to have to put in some time and effort, unless your parents want to take on this responsibility. Certainly there are far more ways to raise money than through door-to-door sales.

Before choosing a fundraising project, hold a group meeting and find out exactly how much time your group of gymnasts will be able to give to raising money and when that time is. Weekend mornings are often a good fundraising time for projects like car washes and disposing of people's electronic gear for a fee.

The next step is to brainstorm fundraising ideas based on online research and previous popular fundraising efforts at your school. Then the gymnastics group can select an appropriate project. The big secret to having a successful fundraising activity is to get a great number of people to attend it. One of the most popular ways to do this is for students to contact their Facebook friends and tell them about the fundraiser. The more fun a fundraising project is, the higher the attendance will be.

Some popular fundraisers are: movie nights, tailgates before games and restaurant meals where the group receives a share of the sales.

There is a new technological way to raise funds -- called crowdfunding. You write a blurb online, add pictures and/or videos and ask visitors to visit your website to make contributions. There is one caution here. Many schools have rules about fundraising activities as well as the use of the Internet for school activities. Be sure to check and make sure any online crowdfunding activity is acceptable to the school.